Guide to Item of the Week Farming
Guide to Item of the Week Farming Background: Every week, Nicholas the Traveler requests a different item in exchange for Gifts of the Traveler. These items of the week end up being very valuable for a short period, since the gifts can usually be sold for – (and opening the gifts yields valuable items). Veteran players usually have no trouble farming the item using advanced (although standard) builds and they have access to the ideal farming locations. This guide, however, is designed to help the relatively new player, who has fewer skills and might need to unlock the farming area. Week of 2009-12-21: Ancient Kappa Shells Summary * Item: Ancient Kappa Shells ** Found In: The Undercity ** Dropped by: Kappa (level 20) Getting to Nick title=Nicholas the Traveler include=current Farming for Ancient Kappa Shells * One available farm: Ancient Kappa can only be found in a small part of the Undercity, just east of where Nicholas is standing this week (see map). There are 8 easily accessible groups of kappa: 7 groups of 4–5 kappa, plus the boss group containing Baubao Wavewrath and 6 other kappa. A ninth group is located at the eastern end of the cross-corridor where the path ends on the farming map, but the close proximity of enemies on the upper level makes it difficult and inefficient to include them in a farming run. ** The kappa are hostile to both the Am Fah and the Afflicted, and the last couple groups in the northerly passage will almost always start fighting a group of Afflicted before you can reach them. You won't get any drops from a foe if you weren't actually engaged with it, so this is one time where it is not advisable to let the monsters kill each other off. ** If you have the quest The Challenge active, it will remove all the Afflicted between Vizunah Square (Local Quarter) and The Afflicted Huan, making the run to the kappa much quicker. The quest The Shadow Blades will additionally remove The Afflicted Miju's group, which is helpful if you are entering from Bukdek Byway. ** Non-Canthan characters generally do not have access to Vizunah Local and should head out from The Marketplace through Wajjun Bazaar. Some players prefer this route if the Am Fah in Wajjun Bazaar are friendly (e.g. from Seek out Brother Tosai or related quests); the route to the Undercity is free of enemies and only a handful of Am Fah guard the path to the Kappa. Threats & recommended skills *'Threats:' general threats like hex, condition, environmental effects etc. *'Tactics:' important tactics, for example pulling, choke points etc *'Recommended skills:' skills like anti-kd, hex removal etc Solo farming * Spirit spammers will have no trouble with the kappa. Bring a team of heroes/henchmen to help kill the Afflicted and Am Fah on the way, then flag them back out of radar range. * Elementalists armed with Stoneflesh Aura and either Stone Striker + Mantra of Earth or Mantra of Frost will take no damage from the kappa for the most part (their spells might inflict a little damage that can easily be mitigated), leaving them free to obliterate the mobs. Week of December 14, 2009: Stone Grawl Necklaces Summary * Item: Stone Grawl Necklaces ** Found In: Sacnoth Valley (and during Be Very, Very Quiet...) ** Dropped by: Grawl Champions, Grawl Dark Priests, & Grawl Demagogues Getting to Nick Farming for Stone Grawl Necklaces Unfortunately, there's really only one spot for serious grawl farming and it is not close to any portal or outpost. It might be worth leaving a partner player at the portal to Dalada Uplands for fast rezoning, otherwise, it's a long march back to rezone. The drop rate for necklaces is relatively low (compared to some of the recent requests), so be prepared for a long haul. * Suggested Farm #1: Leave from Doomlore Shrine; remember to activate Rebel Yell for your encounters with Charr. Head right (west) and kill off the Charr Seekers to reach the Siege Devourer. Capture it and use it to run to Sacnoth Valley. From there, hug the east border until just after you pass Nicholas, turning west. There's a huge concentration of Grawl in the valleys to the southwest, including the two bosses. * Suggested Farm #2: Aim for speed rather than numbers by knocking off the first couple of Grawl found after crossing into Sacnoth. Rezone and repeat. * Suggested Farm #3: Run farm #1 and then zone into Rragar's Menagerie. Exit the zone and kill either/both of the boss groups in the valley east of the dungeon (marked in red on the map). Threats & recommended skills *'Threats:' The biggest threat is the healing power of the Dark Priest's spirits. The Champions have a couple of annoying skills, but offer little true resistance once their healing allies are gone. *'Tactics:' Kill the Dark Priests first. Avoid over-pulling, especially if you tackle Fozzy Yeoryios and his friends. As always, a well-balanced party will do just fine. Alternatively, bring an effective Tank to ball up the grawl around a Dark Priest and use heavy Area of Effect damage and take them down together. *'Recommended skills:' Anti-spirit spells are very useful for countering the Dark Priests, e.g. the Ritualist's Gaze of Fury, the Mesmer's Spiritual Pain and Unnatural Signet, or the Monk's Banish. Anti-knockdowns are useful against the Champions, but not essential. Solo farming This week is much more difficult to farm completely solo (without H/H), although it's still possible. Those who solo should grab the Siege Devourer (above) and should have little trouble getting to Sacnoth in NM. * 600/smite: When fighting groups of grawl and charr at the same time, watch out for Savage Shot. * Permasliver: If money is no object, use consumables (particularly Essence of Celerity or Rock Candy. The cost of these items might not be worth the return, even for soloists. * Terra tank: Bring a speed boost to run to Sacnoth Valley. Gather up the Grawl and use Sliver Armor to kill them off. Ideally, start with the Dark Priest, otherwise it's hard to outdamage their healing power. * ' Rit Mobile Spirit Spammer:' Easy solo farm in nm. Don't bother with the Siege Devourer. Week of December 7, 2009: Shiverpeak Manes Summary * Item: Shiverpeak Manes ** Found In: Deldrimor Bowl ** Dropped by: Shiverpeak Warriors, Shiverpeak Longbows, Shiverpeak Protectors Getting to Nick In Deldrimor Bowl, next to the collectors in the west-central area Farming for Shiverpeak Manes * Suggested Farm #1: exit from Beacon's Perch and clear the zone; the only foes are mane-dropping centaurs (except for a few Snow Ettins by the exit to Griffon's Mouth). Threats & recommended skills *'Threats:' The low level centaurs offer few serious threats to L20 characters: some minor spike damage, some short-lasting conditions, and an interrupt or two. *'Tactics:' Pretty much anything that works against melee foes will work fine here, if your party is L20. Spirits and minions make great fodder. *'Recommended skills:' Bring at least some healing, some damage reduction, and some strong damage skills. Spike damage works better than AoE here since the centaurs tend to spread out quickly. Solo farming This is another good week to try solo farming, if you haven't done so before. * Bring at least one self-heal, one spike damage, and your favorite defenses. Week of November 30, 2009: Frosted Griffon Wings Summary * Item: Frosted Griffon Wings ** Found In: Southern Shiverpeaks and Varajar Fells ** Dropped by: Blessed Griffons Getting to Nick In Snake Dance, due west of the portal to Grenth's Footprint. Farming for Frosted Griffon Wings ]] * Suggested Farm #1: Enter Snake Dance from Camp Rankor. Between 25–35 griffons can be found in the southwest corner of this area, interspersed with Azure Shadow pop-ups and Stone Summit Heretics. Threats & Recommended Skills *'Threats:' The griffons cast Spell Breaker frequently (beginning with their second or third spell), which causes casters to waste energy; the azures cast Signet of Judgment (SoJ), which causes knockdown. *'Tactics:' The griffons can be easily handled by strong melee parties or by spellcasting teams that can interrupt the griffons before they cast Spell Breaker. Alternatively, casters can work around the spell shield through Area of Effect (AoE) skills that target other foes or allies and/or targeting nearby allies using non-targeted skills (e.g. Wells or Point Blank Area of Effect (PBAoE) skills). The Azures are easier to work-around, either by avoiding their SoJ, interrupting it, or bringing anti-knockdown skills. *'Recommended skills:' Any successful melee builds are of great help against the griffons, especially those that remove enchantments, such as Expunge Enchantments or Rending Aura. Useful interrupts include the obvious Cry of Frustration and Cry of Pain and the less obvious Shame. Helpful non-targeted skills include Shockwave, Well of the Profane, Disenchantment, and Signet of Disenchantment. Solo Farming * 600 monks can farm the griffons easily in hard mode. While the griffons don't require any special tactics, you will have to watch out for the other foes. **Azure Shadows can knock you down with Signet of Judgment, so watch them to see when they use it and time your spellcasting around it. **Stone Summit Heretics have Shatter Enchantment, and they like to use it with Arcane Echo, which means they can strip a number of your enchantments quite quickly. Spell Breaker can block all of their spells, of course, but if it runs out, spam Spirit Bond as much as you can, and they hopefully won't be able to strip anything else. * Spirit Spammers in Normal Mode can expect 2–6 wings using the suggested farm above. Week of November 23, 2009: Mursaat Tokens Summary * Item: Mursaat Tokens ** Found In: Southern Shiverpeaks & Ring of Fire Islands ** Dropped by: Mursaat Getting to Nick In Ice Floe, due west of Marhan's Grotto. Farming for Mursaat Tokens * Suggested Farm #1: At the beginning of the Ring of Fire mission, there are a couple dozen Mursaat. Wait for Brechnar Ironhammer to do a Kilroy Stonekin, making it easier pull smaller groups. * Suggested Farm #2: Throughout Ice Floe, you can find groups of 4-7 Mursaat wandering around. Just outside Thunderhead Keep there are at least 10 closely packed groups that can be farmed quickly. If you venture further into the area, beware the groups of Ice Imps (unless you are prepared for their Maelstrom). * Alternative to Farming: Mursaat form a significant fraction of the foes in the last three missions in Prophecies. Simply completing those missions will generate a decent supply of tokens. Alas, the Zaishen didn't see fit to offer any challenges during this week that would offer additional bonuses. While Ice Caves of Sorrow (Sunday's z-mission) does have Mursaat, there aren't that many. Threats & Recommended Skills *'Tactics:' tbd *'Threats:' Infused Armor is a must to defend against Spectral Agony. The Mursaat groups tend to include a Monk and either a set of casters (e.g. Mesmers or Elementalists) or Jade constructs (e.g. Jade Armor). *'Recommended Skills:' tbd Solo Farming * The beginning of the Ring of Fire mission can be partially farmed by 600 monks with Shield of Judgment, preferably in hard mode to better trigger Spirit Bond. After Brechnar draws away the large group at the beginning of the mission, there are 3 groups of 3 Jade Armors and Jade Bows. One patrols around the lava pit to the right, one patrols back-and-forth in front of the lava pits, and one patrols along the western edge of the left-hand pit. Make sure to pull them far enough away from the starting area, because the Mursaat Monks will move quite far to come heal them. The centre patrol and the right patrol should be pulled to the right hand side and killed, by this time the group that were following Brechnar will be back to the start to allow you to go to the remaining group of 3 mursaat on the left hand side. : * The typical [http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Build:E/Mo_330_Elementalist[330 Stone]] setup will work using the Obsidian Flesh variant with Healing Breeze and Sliver Armor. Pull a large number of Mursaat or other enemies together to speed up the kills and overpower the monk's healing. Week of November 16, 2009: Plague Idols Summary * Item: Plague Idols ** Found In: Wajjun Bazaar ** Dropped by: Am Fahs Getting to Nick In Wajjun Bazaar, at the northwest corner of the docks (northwest of portal to The Marketplace) Farming for Plague Idols There are a number of productive farming areas for Idols, which drop from the Am Fah. The first three are good places to try solo farming for the first time; the last one is much more fun for large groups (and will still be reasonably efficient in producing Idols). * Wajjun Bazaar, round-trip between The Marketplace and Nahpui Quarter. * Wajjun Bazaar, round-trip between The Marketplace and The Undercity. * Nahpui Quarter (explorable) and Shenzun Tunnels, start from Senji's Corner and romp through the groups of Am Fah in both areas. * The Undercity, from Wajjun Bazaar. * Sunjiang District round-trip between Zin Ku Corridor and the Pongmei Valley portal. * The Deactivating P.O.X. mini-mission (requires a version of the game that includes M.O.X.). Resign after Lou, of the Knives and his mob die. If your character has started the quest Seek out Brother Tosai, the Am Fah in Wajjun Bazaar will be non-hostile until the character completes the quest Masters of Corruption. Simply abandoning the quests will not undo this effect, so characters in this situation must either complete Masters of Corruption or farm the alternate locations. Threats & Recommended Skills *'General notes:' The Am Fah in Wajjun Bazaar and The Undercity usually appear in groups of 4. Watch out for patrol patterns that put 2-3 groups together. In the UC and often in the Bazaar, the groups will include a Monk, a Ranger, a Necromancer, and an Assassin. For most teams (and soloists), the Am Fah Healers will present the most serious obstacle; they are relatively efficient keeping their team alive (compared to how quickly the other 3 can hurt your team). *'Tactics:' Take out the Healers first, especially if there are two in the group. Flag heroes and henchmen away from each other, so that they don't get tagged by the same snares. *'Threats:' The Am Fah Rangers use crippling and poisonous traps, and shoot poison arrows. The Necromancers also apply several conditions and degen. However, the relative damage output from the groups of 4 is relatively low. *'Recommended Skills:' Any well balanced team of 2–4 L20 characters should be more than sufficient to handle anything the Am Fah can dish out. Although not required, it helps to bring condition removal and health regeneration skills. Successful teams can be based on snares + AoE damage, spikes + healing, tanking + AoE damage, and snares + point-blank area of effect damage. *'POX:' See the walkthrough for Deactivating P.O.X. for team suggestions. Solo Farming * 600/Smite: Activate traps to avoid accidental death later on. Use Shield of Absorption against big groups. Bring an interrupt-preventer, e.g. Mantra of Resolve. Or use Frenzy with Mo/W builds. * Spirit spammers work well in Wajjun and Undercity. However, instead of the kiting away and shadow stepping the spirits, target the healer first and run around the groups. Once the healer is dead, the usual techniques work fine. Mend Body and Soul is a good choice for the optional skill slot to remove the conditions caused by traps. See also * Tips for previous requests * Primary article on Nick * The PvX farming guide Category:Farming guides